[sneak]

Almost everything Hitler did was legal under German law. He just changed the laws first.

There is a section on the Wikipedia page about the USA PATRIOT Act that illustrates the parallels with the Reichstagsbrandverordnung (Reichstag Fire Decree).

The first section reads (translated):

"Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. It is therefore permissible to restrict the rights of personal freedom [habeas corpus], freedom of (opinion) expression, including the freedom of the press, the freedom to organize and assemble, the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications. Warrants for House searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed."

Sound familiar?